The New Daughter
by Sweetsyd101
Summary: Catty gets new neighbors and along with them comes new mysteries as well as discoveries.


Chapter 1

Catty woke up from her nap to the sound of her adopted Mom, Kendra, yelling.

"Catty, wake up," Kendra screamed. "You're going to be late!"

Late for what, Catty thought.

"I invited the new neighbors over for dinner!"

New neighbors? Cool. "They have a daughter about Shannon's age." Kendra continued.

"Isn't that awesome!", said Shannon.

Catty glanced at her clock, 5:30; she had about half an hour to get ready. She took a quick shower, threw on some jeans and a sky blue halter. She raced down the stairs. "There you are," said Kendra, "OK they're gonna be here any minute now."

About 5 or 10 minutes later, they came.

"Hi, I'm Kendra, these are my daughters, Catty, 15, and Shannon, 12." "Hi nice to meet you," said Catty. Shannon mumbled something along the same lines, and the family introduced themselves.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Geena, this is my Husband, Rick, and our daughter, Michelle, our son Mark couldn't make it here but he's Catty's age. Michelle's the same age as Shannon." said the tall blonde with green eyes in jeans and a peach colored tee shirt. Her husband was also tall and had red hair and brown eyes with a green shirt and jeans on. They're daughter, tall for her age, had reddish-blonde hair with emerald green eyes and jeans and a pink tank top on. She was pretty. She had freckles spattered on her nose and cheeks and had a nice, even, tan. She had earrings shaped like starfish on and her hair was in a ponytail. She looked nice and Catty knew Shannon would like her.

"OK, everyone to the kitchen," Kendra said. "Yes, onward ho," said Catty playfully. Michelle giggled and so did Shannon. "I made Spaghetti and meatballs, with garlic bread." said Kendra. Catty's favorite. "Great choice, Mom!", said Catty. "I also made lemonade," said Kendra. "Another great choice, Mom!" said Shannon, she loved lemonade.

After dinner was finished, The Martins thanked them for the meal and got ready to leave. "Kendra," said Mrs. Martin. "Yes, Geena." said Kendra. "I know we haven't known each other long, but could I ask for a huge favor." said Mrs. Martin. "I wanted to know if you or Catty could watch Michelle after school tomorrow until about 6, my husband and I need to meet Michelle's new teacher and my son is off at some thing in Sacramento." "I don't see why not," said Kendra. "I'll be at my shop downtown, but I'm sure Catty could, right Catty?"

"Um, sure." said Catty. She was supposed to meet Vanessa tomorrow about a science project. They would just have to meet at her house. "Thank you SO much," said Mrs. Martin, "I know how busy you must be." "No prob," said Catty. After the Martins left Catty played Scrabble with Shannon, then went to bed. The Martins seemed nice enough, but Mr. Martin didn't talk much. Maybe he's just shy, Catty thought. After about 20 minutes Catty fell asleep.

Chapter 2

Catty walked down the hall to homeroom. She had talked to Vanessa about the baby-sitting thing and she was fine with it. They would walk home then start on the project. Michelle was supposedly a great kid and was almost never any trouble. Catty hoped desperately that this was true. She also wondered about Mark. She liked Kyle but things had been sketchy lately and she decided to move on. She was going to drop the bomb tomorrow at Planet Bang. She hoped she was doing the right thing. "Catty!" yelled Serena. "Hey," said Catty. Serena was dressed in a teal and silver camouflage shirt and a long, black and silver skirt. She had black combat boots on too. "Where do you get your clothes?" said a girl passing by Serena. "You just gotta know where to look," She replied. "Anyways, I heard your thoughts about dumping Kyle...are you sure about this?" She asked. "Yep, Positive." Catty stated plainly. Vanessa joined them. "I really don't think you should," she said jumping right into the conversation. "Yeah, don't pull a Vanessa." said Serena sarcastically. "Hey!" said Vanessa as she shoved Serena playfully.

At lunch, Catty, Vanessa and Serena all sat in the shade of an Oak tree to hide from the heat of early autumn. As Catty chewed on her sandwich she told Serena about her new neighbors, "We have new neighbors. They seem nice. They have a daughter, Michelle, whose Shannon's age, and a son, Mark who's our age. I'm hoping Mark isn't a totally loser because I'll be forced to live next door to him." "Not many boys in L.A. are losers so it's not likely," said Vanessa. "I hope so..."said Catty. "Anyways, how are you going to dump Kyle?" said Serena. "I don't know..." said Catty, "I guess I'll just say 'Kyle...I like you and everything but...you're just not my type...' I just hope it doesn't hurt his feelings..." she finished. "Oh my god there's Michael!" said Vanessa excitedly. "He's coming over!" she practically screamed. "Shhhhh!" said Serena. "Can you guys just casually wonder off when he comes?" asked Vanessa. "Sure." said Catty. "Hey guys." said Michael. "Hey." said Serena and Catty at the same time. "We have to go." said Catty as she pointed her finger to the left. Serena and Catty scurried off to the door and down the main hall.

Chapter 3

When Vanessa and Catty got to Catty's house, Michelle and Shannon were playing cards. "Hey guys, Michelle this is my friend Vanessa; we're going to be working on a research project in my room, ok?" "Sure, that's fine." answered Shannon blankly, obviously she was very focused on the card game. "It's nice to meet you Vanessa," said Michelle politely. "It's very nice to meet you too," said Vanessa, smiling. "Do you guys want a snack?" asked Catty. "Sure, Got any fives," said Shannon.

Catty and Vanessa went into the kitchen and Catty popped two bags of popcorn in the microwave and grabbed two cokes from the fridge. "Want to go to Planet Bang to see Michael tomorrow," asked Catty, since tomorrow was Saturday. "Yeah, I was planning on it," she said, "Come over to my house about-" right before Vanessa could finish there was a huge explosion from the living room. "SHANNON!" screamed Catty. "Get down!" yelled Vanessa grabbing Catty's arm and pulling her down. There was a long silence until Catty heard someone start crying in the living room.

Catty bolted up and ran to the living room. Shannon was on the floor, covered in plaster from the wall and ceiling and her leg was twisted in a painful-looking position. Michelle was standing, crying extremely hard and had blood on her face and arm and she was sobbing, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, please don't be mad!" "What are you talking about, you couldn't have done that, it looks like a bomb went off, there's no way you could have done that...unless..."Do you have explosives on you?" said Catty puzzled. "No...I don't know how, but I know I did it." sobbed Michelle. "Hey Vanessa, call my mom and 911, HURRY!" yelled Catty. "I think you're probably just suffering from a mild concussion, tell me what you're name is." said Catty as she walked toward Shannon to check on her leg. "Michelle Nyphadora Martin." Michelle said. "Well, it's not a bad one then," said Catty. "Shannon, how's your leg?" "Can you say pain, Catty?" said Shannon. "Um, right. I'll get you a pain killer or something..." Catty said. Catty was in such shock that she was actually acting calm. Somewhere in her mind there was a voice saying, "HEY! CATTY! Your living room is destroyed and one of your neighbors is insane. Not to mention the fact that your sister could have died!" She went to the bathroom and grabbed all the painkillers she could hold. She went to the kitchen and poured some water and went back to the remains of her living room. "Here you go." said Catty. "Thanks a billion," said Shannon.

Two hours later, the police, an ambulance, Michelle's parents, and Kendra were all there.

"It's just a minor fracture," said the paramedic, "she'll be okay in no time. All we need to do is put on a cast." "That's a big relief," said Kendra. Catty was so happy that everything was going to be all right, for now…

Chapter 4

Catty and Vanessa were just finishing up getting ready when Jimena drove up in her brother's '81 Oldsmobile. Catty decided to try to have a good time and go to Planet Bang despite what had happened.

"How do I look?" Vanessa asked Catty right before they went outside.

"Hot!" Catty exclaimed; Vanessa was wearing a bright pink off-the-shoulder top with a black mini and black stilettos. Her makeup was done to make her look dangerously beautiful. She had misty pink eye shadow and silver eyeliner, with heavy mascara; tonight was the night Vanessa sang one of Serena's darker poems put to music, involving a fallen goddess and an evil spirit.

"Likewise," said Vanessa. Catty was wearing an emerald green tank top showing her stomach, with a silver bohemian skirt. She wore lightly done green eye shadow and light mascara. She had painted twisting designs coming out of the corner of her eyes and around her belly button with silver body paint. She was extremely nervous about breaking up with Kyle, but she now knew she could never be with him; it was just too risky. She realized she was putting him in too much danger by doing so. She still sort of liked him, but she thought it was the best thing to do.

Before Catty knew it, she and Vanessa were on Vanessa's front porch; Catty had been staying with Vanessa since the incident.

"Hola chicas," said Jimena in greeting. "Hey," said Serena from the passenger's side. It felt weird to Catty to not have Tiana around anymore. It had been of couple of months since her death, but Catty still missed her greatly. She felt tears well up in her eyes and instantly Vanessa asked what was wrong. "It's nothing," said Catty. "Well, it's obviously something," said Vanessa. "Just thinking about Tiana…" said Catty sadly. "Oh," said Vanessa really quietly. The whole trip to Planet Bang was silent, all the girls were thinking about their brave friend, Tiana.

Chapter 5

"Hey Catty!" yelled Kyle in the loud club. "Hey…"said Catty. Kyle started to lean in to kiss her on the cheek, but Catty put up her hand to stop him. "Look, I really like you, but this is just too risky, I…I…can't," said Catty sadly. "I understand," said Kyle firmly. Before Catty could say anything else, Kyle turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Chapter 6

Since Catty was upset about dumping Kyle, she left the club early and decided to walk to Vanessa's house.


End file.
